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Ticking Off A 2017 Goal

Friday, April 07, 2017

I'm so sorry because I'm still on NAMCO withdrawal mode even though two weeks have already passed. Hehe.

NAMCO is Novice Arbitration Mooting Competition, opened exclusively for law students who never mooted in a national or international competition before. It's prestigious because the top law schools in Malaysia will fight it out to bring home the coveted trophy. UiTM won back to back in 2015 and 2016, so the pressure was on us, the new Bilis Squad to keep the streak going.UiTM won back to back in 2015 and 2016, so the pressure was on us, the new Bilis Squad to keep the streak going.

We sent three teams for the 2017 session, and oh boy, what a journey. Our non-existing holidays, the stress of trying to get our grounds right, staying back after classes end but really, looking back at everything now makes me miss everything.

6 out of 12 NAMCO 2017 Bilis. This photo was taken at UM's law school because we went there to support our seniors who were in the Jessup mooting competition and they won! They're in Washington DC right now for the global rounds, representing Malaysia. We also had time to train for our submissions here. #cuti? #apetu

Got to give some extra appreciation to these two girls for being really good friends towards me. I just hung out with them last weekend and I still miss them even though we see each other sometimes at the faculty lol. And spot the elusive Rezan lurking at the back.

Another reason why I love my NAMCO bilis squad? Because they know what to do when I'm feeling like trash. The photo of the cendol was taken on the day where our exam results were announced and that was d-day to know if we can continue mooting for the upcoming semester. I didn't pass the 3.0 grade set by the club, so I cried a lot on that day. They persuaded me to go for cendol to make sure that I don't spend the whole time crying alone in my room. Rezan and Aida (who are in part 4 now) gave me really good advice and said that it's okay to have blunders in law school.

Then, on the 24th-26th of March, it was the weekend! The competition weekend! On the 24th was basically the opening ceremony and the exchange of memorials. Nothing much. Also: our last day of training. Our seniors also came by to give us a pep-talk in the middle of a McDonalds in Subang. I slept early that night to prepare for the car ride early the next morning. Thank goodness I wasn't sick or nervous. Fuh.

25th of March was the general rounds. Iman and I had to go against UIA in the morning and UKM in the evening. I personally think that we did well in both sessions, but we lost the morning one by a few points. I can't post photos due to the low quality of the photos shared on Facebook.

My co-counsel for NAMCO! Sobs we used to be roommates and now we're mooting together, what a character progression. Iman is really positive overall, and we did really well! She got better feedback than me hehe.

After the general rounds, some of us went to Zi's house to get ready for the dinner. Yes, there's a dinner. We had buffet at Sunway Putra Hotel which was so good! They announced the semi-finalists and well, yeah, we didn't manage to go through the next round. It was a big punch to the face to us. Yeah, we were upset, but we took it as a growing experience.

The one in the middle of all the photos is the legendary Pakcik. He's an alumni of my law school and also the moot club. He taught us a lot in just a span of 3 months and here we are, official mooters for UiTM. His dedication to coach us is really admirable as he sacrified his time to make sure that we were ready for the competition. Thank you so much Pakcik!

I'll always be grateful for having an opportunity like this. Imagine if I decided not to go to the auditions? Imagine if I decided to quit? I'll never tick off my own personal goal for this year, and I'll never have the chance to know these people. We fought hard, and we'll continue fighting harder. I might be taking a break due to my CGPA this semester, but I'll come back stronger than ever.